Paul Garber’s life spanned
an incredible era. He was born in 1899, just as powered flight was being
developed. When he died, in 1992, man had already walked on the moon, and
exploration of Mars had begun. Paul relished every single step in aviation
history with passion, intrigue, and a twinkle in his eye.

Paul
Garber actually appears to have been born with the specific purpose; that of
nurturing, procuring, preserving, protecting, and then sharing, all things
aeronautical. Aviation and the profusion of knowledge were deeply ingrained in
his DNA. I can’t escape the feeling that Paul Garber picked up where Octave
Chanute left off, as an eminent historian of flight.

His
uncle gave him a kite for his 5th birthday and he did a version of
traction kiting into the surf before the prophetic uncle snatched him up. Young
Garber was still clutching the kite string in his chubby little hands as he was
carried back to safety.

During Paul’s youth his family lived in Washington, DC on Connecticut Avenue,
near the home of Alexander Graham Bell. With his propensity for crossing paths
with history; Garber, as a child, received a kite-flying lesson from Bell. A
story often told by Garber:

“He would walk by, six feet tall, with a white beard, black coat,
very imposing. One day I was out front—we had a big yard—flying a kite. Well,
Dr. Bell came along and said ‘That kite isn’t bridled properly’. He pulled it
down and had me hold the kite while he re-bridled it, and sure enough when he
launched it again it flew better. Then he patted me on the head.”

In
July of 1909 Garber witnessed an early flight demonstration that Orville Wright
was giving to the US military. In his own word’s Paul Garber recounts:

“Then it was in 1909 that I saw Orville Wright Fly. By That time,
we’d moved to Washington. This particular morning in the newspaper I’d seen an
account of Orville Wright Flying at Fort Myer, Virginia. So I asked my father if
I could have some carfare—I think it was fifty cent round trip—and as I got out
of the trolley car I could hear this sound. And here came this airplane. Well,
I’d never seen and airplane before. It was like an enormous kite that had a
noisy engine in it and two propellers whirling around and two men sitting in it.
It came and flew overhead and then turned and went to the far end of the field
and then came back again. I just stood there, transfixed.”

“Then I
met a photographer. And I offered to carry one of his bags. Well that got me a
little closer to the airplane, after it landed. I later learned that that the
photographer was Winfield Scott Clime. I didn’t know who Orville and Wilbur were
or who Charlie Taylor (their mechanic) was, but I realize now that those were
the persons I was seeing.”

The
Army purchased that airplane on August 2, 1909 making it the first military
airplane in the world.

When
Garber was 15 he made a glider based on the model of Octave Chanute’s
man-carrying glider that was in the Smithsonian Institution. He initially flew
the glider model as a kite. Then it occurred to Garber that a larger size would
be suitable for taking rides. So Paul made it five times larger with a 20-foot
span. He then gathered his neighborhood friends as well as all the clotheslines
he could borrow, they went to a location with a downward slope (California &
Massachusetts Ave) and upon instructions from Paul they began to run, pulling
him into the air and towing him along. The glider was on his shoulders while he
held onto the two struts that he had built onto it. It proved to be great fun
and they repeated the glider flights a dozen or so times over the month.

That
was it. The thrill of flight was in his blood and he was hooked for life.

Garber had an innate ability to gather information and then naturally dispense
it to others. As his interest grew in aviation, model airplanes were added to
his hobbies. While still in grammar school Garber started a club for kites and
model airplanes. Because of the club’s popularity it continued through high
school, as more and more students were eager to join.

Garber joined the Army in 1918 during World War I and was entering flight
training at College Park, Maryland, when the war ended. After the war he began
working for Air Mail Service, a fledgling enterprise.

In
1920, Paul Garber embarked on what would become his calling in life. It was then
that he began his career of preserving aviation’s legacy at the Smithsonian
Institution Museum. Garber was originally hired for a three-month temporary
assignment; building models and preparing exhibits. He ended up staying for 72
years, devoting his life to the preservation of the nation’s aeronautical
heritage.

In
1931, Garber became the Boy Scouts examiner for the aviation merit badge,
stressing that the number one requirement was that the applicant should have
made a kite that will fly. He also authored the book, Kites and Kiteflying.

Paul
Garber worked in every area of the museum and was familiar with each phase of
the operation. He completed his college education, married, and had three
children; who he naturally taught to make and fly kites.

One
day, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Navy asked Paul Garber to use his
expert knowledge to develop an aircraft recognition program. Garber entered the
Navy as a Lieutenant (later Commander) in the Special Devices Division.

Shortly after the beginning of the war, Garber heard Admiral John H. Towers
remark that one of the things the Navy needed the most was an improved moving
target to speed up the training of aircraft gunners. Being an avid kite flyer,
and kite historian, Paul thought that kites may be able to play a role in
solving this problem. He knew production would be relatively easy and cheap, but
it could not be a stationary kite; too easy of a mark. He had to find a way for
the kite to do acrobatics and be able to dodge bullets.

Paul
Garber continued to think about how best to solve this problem as he followed
his initial orders - help with the production of millions of model airplanes
that were desperately needed by all divisions of the armed services for
recognition instruction.

Initially Garber worked on his target project in his own spare time with the
help of fellow kite enthusiasts Stanley Potter and Lloyd Reichert, for almost a
year.

They
started with a dual line Eddy kite-developed from a Malay design of a
half-century earlier. The five-foot diamond kite had a rudder system for
steering but no tail. The kite was designed to duplicate airplane maneuvers-
loops, dives, figure eights, and was flown on 250 feet of line to simulate the
size of an attacking plane.

When
Garber was satisfied with the results of their research and development on the
target kite, he arranged to demonstrate it for Captain (later Admiral) Luiz de
Florez, head of the Special Devices Division of the Bureau of Aeronautics (Who
was heard to have been muttering something about not having time to fly kites…
There was a war on!)

Paul
Garber demonstrated the spectacular aerobatics of his target kite that day for
the military brass in DC. As if it was poetry in motion; Garber had the kite
flying over the Lincoln Memorial and Reflecting Pool from his position atop the
main Navy Department building roof in Washington. To add that personal touch,
Paul wrote out the name ‘Luiz’ with the kite and went back to dot the ‘i’.
Florez was said to have quickly admitted to Garber that his target kite was “The
best damn target I ever saw!”

The
project was approved. Under Garber’s supervision over 350,000 target kites were
made and distributed to sharpen the eye of anti-aircraft gunners. The target
kites with Japanese Zeros or German FW 190 aircraft painted on them were
delivered to all domestic and overseas bases, as well as all ships at sea.

Garber spent the remainder of the war working on the target kite assignment.
Initially, the Navy contracted with the Comet model airplane firm, in 1943, to
build 1200 kites and reels. Lt. Garber went to every gunnery station on the East
Coast to demonstrate the kites. Garber set up kite flying schools for Navy
personnel to learn how to fly the target kite.

Next
Garber took his kites to the Navy’s PT Boat school in Melville, Rhode Island
(where his son, Ned, was in training as a gunners mate). The leaders of the PT
schools were thrilled with the kite’s abilities. One boat would fly a kite
astern in evasive maneuvers while the other boats in the squadron tried to shoot
it down as they roared along. Lt. Garber’s son became the school’s instructor in
kite handling.

As
Garber continued the tour of his kite demonstrations at gunnery stations, PT
boat schools, and ships at sea, the Navy was easily convinced of the soundness
of the project. The Navy placed a second order of 50,000 kites, this time from
the sporting goods manufacturer Spalding. They followed that order up with two
more purchase orders for 100,000 each. The target kites were produced for the
price of $4.25 each.

At
the end, of the war, Commander Garber received a commendation from the Navy for
his kite work and contribution to the war effort, and in a show of gratitude the
Navy released the target kite patents to him.

In
the end Paul Garber’s ingenuity was rewarded in the best possible way. When
Garber’s son Ned was in PT boat school he was assigned as instructor at the
Melville school. When Ned’s PT Boat was ordered out to sea he tried to get off
kite duty to join his boat. His skipper refused the request. The PT Boat was
lost with all hands.

Garber applied for and received a patent for the target kite on May 6. 1945. He
sold half the rights to Stanley Potter in 1949 for one dollar. They looked into
producing the kites commercially after the war, but discontinued the idea after
being repeatedly told by manufacturers that they wouldn’t build the kites to
Garber’s specifications because the kite would end up being too expensive and
therefore wouldn’t sell. Rather then reduce the quality, Garber decided not to
pursue it. The retail price in question was $15.

The
Navy tried various ways to dispose of the 175,000 surplus kites after the war.
The government sold the kites directly, for a while, for $2.79 in multiples of
ten through the Office of Aircraft Disposal. Garber appeared in some
advertisements as he, himself, tried to sell some of the surplus kites. Today,
target kites sell on eBay for $150-$300.

As
Paul returned to his work at the Smithsonian Institution, there were new
challenges that needed to be solved. He had long since dedicated himself to the
preservation of our nation’s aeronautical heritage by doing ‘whatever it
took’ to get the job done. He was a master finagler! Paul personally
convinced Lindbergh to give the ‘Spirit of St. Louis’ to the
Smithsonian, and was successful in getting the ‘Wright Flyer’ back
from Europe.

The
storage of the museum’s historic aircraft collection had never been a problem in
the past. The entirety of what Garber collected was either on display at the
Arts and Industries Building or on loan to other museums. That was about to
change.

At
the end of the war, General Hap Arnold and Senator Jennings Randolph thought it
was time the Smithsonian Institution had an Air Museum. As Garber worked
with them on the wording of the public law, General Arnold gave the order to
preserve one of each of all significant aircraft of World War II, as well as all
captured aircraft. The museum was established by order of Public Law number 722
of the 79th Congress, and was signed by President Truman on August 12th,
1946. In 1966 Congress changed the name to National Air and Space Museum.

Paul
Garber became the first curator of the Smithsonian Institution’s Air Museum,
eventually becoming Head Curator, and Senior Historian. He was officially
retired by civil service requirements at the age of 70, but continued going into
work on a regular basis well into his 92nd year as Historian
Emeritus.

When
Paul Garber took ownership of the huge collection of World War II aircraft from
the U.S. Army Air Force, it was stored in an abandoned airplane factory in
Chicago, now the site of O’Hare Airport.

The
Navy also had a collection of historic aircraft for the Smithsonian collection,
which was in storage at Norfolk, Virginia.

A
crisis surfaced in 1952 when the Korean War forced the Navy to give to the US
Air Force, the space that was being used to house the historic aircraft in
Norfolk, Virginia.

Garber began to search for warehouse space near Washington, DC, so he could
bring the Smithsonian’s entire collection of treasures home to the nation’s
capital. It was a difficult search.

What
does one do when faced with the problem of how to find space for a huge fleet of
aircraft? One takes to the air, of course! That is exactly what Paul Garber did.
He persuaded a pilot friend to take him up in his Piper J-3 so he could conduct
an aerial survey of the Maryland and Virginia suburbs that surround the
Washington area.

Finally, Garber found 21 acres in Suitland, Maryland (now Silver Springs,
Maryland) that was controlled by the National Park and Planning Commission, who
not only was convinced by Garber to turn it over to the Smithsonian, but they
were even pleased about it.

Garber had excellent ‘scrounging’ abilities. Whether he was scrounging for old
aircraft, or, in the case of the new site in Maryland, he would bring out his
very famous powers of persuasion to secure needed services. Army engineers at
Fort Belvoir provided a bulldozer to clear trees, the Navy provided prefab
buildings at cost, local contractors dropped off unused cement at the end of the
day. “There was no budget!” he recalled to friends with pride.

Eventually the facility was named the Garber Hill Restoration Center at Silver
Springs, Maryland. It is the restoration, renovation, and storage location for
NASM. It is where the planes are prepared for display in the main Air and Space
Museum.

Many
of the famous planes on display today at the Smithsonian are the direct result
of Paul’s finagling; known around the museum as the Garber method. He was often
quoted as saying “I’ll beg, or do whatever is necessary to get the old, famous
airplanes for display at the museum”. It was his passion and drive that was
responsible for the Smithsonian Institution having assembled the most complete
and impressive collection of historic aircraft in the world.

When
the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum opened it’s own enormous freestanding
location on the mall on July 1, 1976, Paul Garber, retired but active Historian
Emeritus quipped, “It isn’t big enough.”

Garber’s spirit is also present at the new Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center located
in northern Virginia near Washington Dulles International Airport. Finally,
after many years of waiting, there is a unique collection of historic kites on
view at the new Center.

This exhibit is the
valuable contribution that it is today because of a collection Paul Garber made
a priority since 1920. Garber began collecting kites as soon as he went to work
for the museum 14 years after Professor Langley died. Langley, Secretary of the
Institution, was interested in man-carrying kites. Garber knew his kite history;
he was well aware that the innovators in aviation history tested their
aerodynamic theories with kites.

Garber was quoted in a 1977 article with Valerie Govig as saying;

“ When I first came here
(the Smithsonian Institution), I found, over in {Langley’s} old shop, several
kites not complete. One was a very unusual triangular box kite cell, but the top
surface had an airfoil, so he was using kites as a means of testing the lift of
curved surfaces. Another one was an octagonal cell. Another one was a tri-plane,
with extreme stagger—one of his experiments.”

Garber also enjoyed the detective work, and he
was good at it. Paul called the Weather Bureau and they gave him one of the last
kites they had in stock, a 1921 model.

Paul contacted William Eddy’s daughter after
finding her in California, and she gave him some original Eddy kites for the
museum. He was a very convincing and charming man.

Garber consulted with the Alexander Graham Bell
museum in Baddeck Bay, Nova Scotia, when they first opened. As a thank you gift,
the museum gave Paul 16 original cells from an early Bell tetrahedral kite for
the Smithsonian Institution collection.

These historic and significant kites were added
to the collection Paul had been putting together since 1920. The Smithsonian
Institution kite collection included numerous historical kites as well as
international kites from Turkey, Korea, Japan, Ceylon, Viet Nam, Philippines,
China, and so many more. Now, they have much revered exhibit space in the
Smithsonian Institution.

S. Dillon Ripley, Secretary of the Smithsonian
Institution in 1966 was walking on the National Mall (large grass area) with
Paul Garber one summer day. Ripley was lamenting the lack of people using the
Mall and asked Paul how he thought the use
of the place could be increased. Garber answered that a kite contest would do
it—he suggested a “Carnival of Kites”. “Good” said Ripley, “You are in charge”.

Paul and his wife Irene Garber became devoted to
the annual springtime kite contest. It became their annual labor of love; their
hardest, yet most pleasurable job. As Director of the Kite Carnival, Garber
would stand on a platform in the center of the festivities, with microphone in
hand, overflowing with joy. Garber was in his glory, kites surrounded him He was
making decisions, telling stories, solving problems, and heaping praise on young
competitors, even, at times, breaking into song.

Paul Garber died on September 23, 1992, at the
age of 93, just four months after I saw him happily flying his target kite at
the Niagara Falls International Kite Festival in May of that year. This was the
second time I had met him and I am honored to have had the opportunity to spend
so much time with him.

Garber received many citations, awards and
medals, but the medal and citation the Secretary of the Smithsonian, S. Dillon
Ripley gave to Paul Garber on February 28, 1969 was especially poignant. The
certificate read:

“For exceptional service as
Flyer, Historian, Collector, Conservator, Educator. In recognition of half a
century devoted to the increase and diffusion of knowledge of the history of
flight”

Paul Garber was a national treasure.

The Annual Smithsonian Kite Festival continues
every year with loyal and dedicated volunteers. This year the kite competition
is on Saturday March 27, 2004 on the National Mall. There are two additional
family kite days planned by the Smithsonian. March 13th at the Steven
F. Udvar-Hazy Center and March 20th at the National Air and Space
Museum on the National Mall.